You might see this error after trying to open something from a USB drive. Or, depending on how your computer is set up, it might pop up right after inserting the drive into your computer. This “not accessible” error can happen at any time, even if you’ve recently used the drive. The location at the start of the error message is unique for whatever location is unreadable, so it might be E:, H:, K:, etc.
What Causes ‘The File or Directory is Corrupted and Unreadable’ Errors?
There are several reasons you might see this error:
The drive was pulled out without safely ejecting itMalware has infected the driveThe external drive is physically damaged
This error could occur on any Windows operating system. The steps below apply to Windows 11 and earlier, back to Windows XP.
How to Fix ‘The File or Directory is Corrupted and Unreadable’ Errors
The best way to fix “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.” errors is to walk through these troubleshooting steps, in order: If the reason for your “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.” error is because the drive is physically broken, repairing the drive isn’t enough to recover your data and stop the error. In this case, you’ll need to replace it. If you completed the previous step and didn’t find anything malicious, feel free to temporarily turn off your security software to see if that fixes the “corrupted and unreadable” error. Check out our updated lists of the best USB flash drives and the best external hard drives for suggestions.
